Local Catholic leaders praise ‘quietly competent’ new Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV

Following the announcement of Pope Leo XIV born Robert Prevost in Chicago as the new head of the Catholic Church local Catholic leaders expressed elation and endorsement and a bit of surprise about his Midwestern roots I never thought I would see an American pope Bernard Hebda the archbishop of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis explained in a news conference Thursday How exciting is that Hebda explained he and Prevost had previously corresponded by mail but had never met in person Most of of the letters they shared Hebda disclosed were archdiocese status updates during the time Prevost oversaw the Dicastery for Bishops the church body that s in charge of selecting new bishops and is involved in managing relations between dioceses and the Vatican Kevin Kenney an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese graduated from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago a meager years after Prevost did but the two men never met there he noted Kenney became a bishop in during Prevost s time leading the Dicastery so it s likely that Prevost was the one who upon the body s recommendation brought Kenney s name to Pope Francis for papal approval I am surprised that the Cardinals elected an American but overwhelmed with pleasure Kenney wrote in an email Thursday I am sure he had a big role in my becoming bishop so I look forward to meeting him someday Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona Rochester also from Chicago traveled to Rome to witness the new pope s first appearance In a video posted to his Facebook page Thursday evening he noted that he and Prevost had met a couple times at church synods over the years He s a quietly competent person Barron declared in the video Not a flashy personality a man of great intelligence prayerfulness obviously Chris Mulcahey a spokesperson for the Minnesota Catholic Conference announced he s not aware of personal connections to Prevost among other bishops around the state The new pope s Midwestern upbringing could help him connect to American Catholics in avenues that are distinct from previous popes Hebda stated Related Articles Robert Prevost first pope from US in history of the Catholic Church takes the name Leo XIV Black smoke pours from Sistine Chapel chimney indicating no pope was elected as conclave opens Cardinals wrap up pre-conclave meetings still uncertain about who should follow Pope Francis New Jersey Catholic bishop says diocese will no longer oppose inquiry into abuse assertions Play your cardinals right Betting on next pope gains popularity ahead of the conclave To have a pope for example who understands Catholic schools or the struggles parents go through to make sure our kids can get a good instruction Hebda revealed Just recognizing the experiences he s had that would be very similar to Catholics in our archdiocese Somebody who has the same experience of the American church and the way in which our church is so multicultural It is unknown whether Prevost has ever visited Minnesota To date no sitting pope has ever visited the state Before becoming Pope Pius XII then-Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli briefly stopped in St Paul on a national tour in The new pope who spent much of his career as a pastor and later bishop in Peru is a White Sox fan his brother notified a local TV station in Chicago